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Chain Reaction

(Author Disclaimer: This post was authored using Tropical Astrology, and predates the transition to sidereal 13 signs Astrology)

“The boundary between a physics experiment and a nuclear explosion is critical mass.”

-Richard Garwin, Physicist

Oh sweet Lucifer! This month is going to feel like a rub of sandpaper against the proverbial butt skin if one does not prepare to embrace unrelenting change, high energy catalysts, and the need to move on a hairpin turn. For a deeper psychic read into these intense aspects I refer you to my very talented Astrologer Friend Chani Nicholas (pronounced “ANNIE” with a 1,2,3 cha-cha-cha in front of it), her piece “The Equinox, the Eclipse, the Grand Cross and Her Lovers” covers ground I won’t touch on here, you can read it here:

Don’t be surprised if the month feels more like high energy physics than it does April and the start of Spring because this one is very atomic, veritably thermo-nuclear.

Imagine if you will a zipper type centrifuge, a necessary technology that enriches Uranium into fuel grade Uranium 238. It separates out the heavier atoms from the lighter more volatile atoms, the ones that are fissionable and can produce an explosion capable of vaporizing everything it touches. This is an apt metaphor for how this month will shape up astrologically speaking.

To continue building on our example, it takes approximately one kilo of enriched Uranium to approach the critical mass at which it is capable of carrying significant fire-power. This critical mass is a tipping point at which time the largely inert natural uranium becomes enriched and volatile, it’s here that it can change phase state from solid to gas, and when fissioned can release the same primal energy that drives the creation of atoms.

Let it be known though that this same process albeit in a different form known as fusion, is the same process that creates stars and hence powers worlds in the galaxies of our Universe. It is the power that fuels our Sun and all life on earth, and it is here that’s it regenerative potential lies. This allegory is illustrative not literal to represent the power of the moment we collectively find ourselves in. This transformation is not a spectator sport and as such you have role to play in it. (interesting that Pluto which plays a pivotal role in this cross is said to be correlated to nuclear power as it was discovered concurrently with the first smashing of an atom in 1930, it is an apt metaphor of the polar powers of the planet which represents the destruction followed by total renewal).

To build on this, the horrific events of Chernobyl, illustrate the destructive potential of this chemical reaction, and also stands as a testament to its other face, the one of renewal a potent Plutonian theme playing out in this cross aspect. It is noted than in the 28 years since the nuclear incident that turned the area into an exclusionary zone, there has been a complete renewal of the area’s ecology. Forests that were once hacked back by human hands have now regrown and are taking over the remains of the cities that once stood in their place (witness Pripiat), this explosive radiation of life is creating the framework to return the area to its climax community. Along with forest regrowth has been a return of native animals, it is within this zone that the most animal density and biological diversity has been observed.

What I am attempting to achieve with this long winded story picture is to demonstrate that even with the destructive potential inherent in this very intense set of aspects, they contain the seeds for a complete renewal; the function of these evolutions is to remove the elements that have been preventing regeneration from occurring. In the case of Chernobyl it removed the human inhabitants that were intensively mis-using the bioregion which, was suppressing its regenerative potential, once removed the potential for a total renewal becomes possible. What these aspects will do is cataclysmically remove the conditions that are preventing evolution from occurring.

I will cover the minor aspects being made this month but will warn that their importance is largely eclipsed by these massive patterns forming in the cardinal cross. To give you an idea from the critical mass example mentioned above, this is much like refining uranium and going through each step in the process before we reach the moment of fission, and then BOOM, it is what this aspect has the potential of feeling like.

We start our season of the Vernal equinox with the entry of the sun into the cardinal sign of the Ram, Aries. Here is a sign that is completely unapologetic, and comes on with all the intensity of a sunburn, this one is fiesty.

Priming the Pump: Aries New Moon: 4/01/02014

The only way to honestly describe how we begin the month is the word “explosive”. We are in the season of ceaseless creativity and an almost impulsive exuberance of life. This Spring does not request or announce its coming it simply arrives with it fiery primary brushstrokes. This marks the energy we will be dealing with primarily over the next three months ushered in by the new moon, call it the starting point.

The Sixth Sense: Mercury Trine Saturn: 04/03/02014

Be prepared to hash out the gritty emotional details of your life over the next three days. All the unspoken undercurrents will be laid bare , as will any other rumblings that have not been given a voice. Be sure to say what you mean and mean what you say, especially as it pertains to the intangibles.

On-Ramp Acceleration: Uranus square Pluto: 04/12/02014

Pluto in Capricorn will be squaring Uranus in Aries, giving a spark of intensity to the self-world axis. Historically when these squares have occurred massive upheavals have been observed in history from which collectively things have changed drastically. It could be the usual flushing out of pedophilic priests from the Church, despotic leaders making aggressive forays into the typical political land grab, witness Putin and the crisis in the Crimea, or some other trouble just lurking on the Horizon, climate change? water crisis? food security issues? political uprising? All are possible and certainly on the table. The lynchpin point will be to recognize a radical break or departure from the past, and the forging of new territory.

In any case the recipe is for encounters with tyranny and the need to act to transform it into justice, sexual revolution (reproductive access issues for women in the developing world, the continuing abortion debate in the industrialized world, the questions raised whenever dominance and resistance are colliding, civil disobedience, a sense of reconstituting Utopia from the grassroots, and thunderstruck towers collapsing (to give an illustrative image).

The moral of the story in this is that when these two energize this axis there is a massive impetus to act and make radical changes. These two impulses create the selective pressure that acts to catalyze actions which will irreversibly change social structures and institutions at a collective level. From the extreme possibility of the first stages of the empowerment of world governance, to the possibility of total economic overhaul that finally eases the global inequalities we see all around us. I would dare say we may see the beginning of the end for dictatorial regimes, the power of various elites whether financial, religious, social, or , technical and the beginning of the fall of massive institutions that have been responsible for oppression in our world, can we say the IMF, and the World Bank! The caveat is this will only happen if we choose it collectively and then take action.

Earth’s Penumbra: Lunar Eclipse: 04/15/02014

Eclipses always represent important moments of transitions, of cycles emphasizing completion. The moon will be passing in front of the constellation Libra; issues relating to others and our relationships that allow us to live in civil ways with others will come to the fore. As this one is lunar it won’t be felt in a conscious way but will be felt at the level of feeling and intuition, at the level of impulse. The impulse will be to defer to others, be sure that if you are taking a more diplomatic approach that you don’t run rough shod over yourself in the process. This is an excellent time to tie up any loose ends as it relates to others in your life, perhaps, it’s time to bury the hatchet with a long standing “enemy”, or clean out your contacts list of “friends” you no longer have much dialogue with.

Critical Mass: Cardinal T-Square: 04/18/02014

T-Squares are some of the more intense aspects in astrology for the reason that they demand unwaveringly an impetus to act. This one will prove to be especially energized given all the characters who have starring roles in it. I call this one critical mass to illustrate my zipper type centrifuge example above. As the chemical reaction moves towards critical mass it becomes increasingly unstable and requires containment at that point if it continues to foment in time it will lead to a cataclysmic explosion. Many factors are coming into play in this day that are making it highly charged like cosmic ray particles, in that Uranus and Pluto are Squaring one another and Pluto and Jupiter are forming an opposition to one another. How a T-Sqaure works is that the planet at the base or leg of the T is being energized by the planets forming an opposition to one another. In this case it spells out that a need to act in ways that break with convention and are future oriented (Uranus-in-Aries) is being given precedence by the need to transform and regenerate social structures (Pluto-in-Capricorn), and the further magnified by an awareness of our inherent interconnectivity and the need to protect the life support systems that support our civilization and the health of our species and biosphere, issues related to our home-planet (Jupiter-in-Cancer). The question of critical importance is where do you need to make a radical departure with the past and act in novel ways which help to meet bigger challenges in your life and potentially what your individual role is in changing consensus reality? Now is the time to start thinking and acting, because as we approach this configuration the rumblings will become eruptions.

Ground Zero: Cardinal Cross: 4/23/02014

Our Universe was born of the legacy of creative cataclysm, our greatest cultural changes are no different, they always occur at a point of fracture, a moment when old social-structures are collapsing and new ones are being born. Revolutions have defined the evolution of our social reality for as long as we have been anatomically modern. They have been slow and fast. Slow ones have included The Stone-Age cultural fluorescence which occurred over a 30,000 year period. The Agricultural revolution occurred over 10,000 years after the Upper Paleolithic. The Industrial and Scientific revolutions took 400 years to reach the articulation they have that now we are a force of nature. The fast ones are the Digital and Computer age occurred within 30 years, not to mention the French Revolution which occurred inside of 8 years. Currently we have scientific revolutions occurring inside of months as our knowledge increases. Arab Spring happened over the course of days, empowered by the technologies of the Computer Age revolution.

At this contemporary moment the fast and slow are converging, expect quicksilver innovations and massive change coming to lumbering juggernaut social institutions. The only way out is through. Our collective re-generation potential begins at this discrete point in time and space. This is the flash point moment when all things ultimately converge to create a perfect storm of events. A rogue planet of characters has all been invited to the wild circus that will be April.

So, an overview of the geometry of a cardinal cross will help to clarify some of these intense changes being fueled by highly charged energies, here is what the planets will be doing in the sky. Mars will oppose Uranus, while retrograde through Libra, at the same time it will also square Pluto and Jupiter. Jupiter on the other hand will be squaring Uranus and opposing Pluto. Uranus will be squaring Pluto, all of this will be happening in the initiating and enterprising cardinal signs which means they pack a lot of fire-power, and represent origins and beginnings. The cardinal signs always signal the beginnings of new seasons and when in historical configurations symbolize new beginnings precipitated first by a crisis of breakdown (upheaval).

Kay. O. Sweaver is an Anarchist! Courtesy of Stella Lawless.

If these aspects were personalities in a community this is who each of them would be:

Mars opposite Uranus: The Risk-taker- This would be that dynamo that walks into a room and has an electric buzz of presence all around them. She takes no punches, is a totally electrically charged and explosive adrenaline junkie, as bright and sudden as a flashbulb.

Mars Square Jupiter: The Dare-Devil- Brash, bold and always telling bawdy jokes, heroic adventurer, hot-blooded and taking no prisoners. Somewhat reckless, but it is only because she runs on impulse, a feisty lady.

Mars Square Pluto: The Survivor- tough as nails and has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it. He is sexually voracious, thriving on risk, with inexhaustible stamina, no matter how many times burned he always rises like a phoenix from the ashes.

Jupiter Square Uranus: The Freedom-Fighter: He is running so much kundalini through him that he could ignite an embryonic star. Master of the leap of faith, with a devil may care attitude. He moves so fast and makes such sudden departures from the current trajectory the Gods can’t keep up. He is a master of the eccentric of some strange otherworldly ecology

Jupiter opposite Pluto: The Truth-Teller: She never suffers fools, and has no time to mince words, don’t bother trying to pass anything past her senses she can see in the dark and nothing gets past her. She is a bit fanatical but for good reason she is uncovering every hidden truth that has pulled the wool over our collective eyes. She is the power of truth and justice and she always demands fairness. She is a renegade and will bend the rules and break all illegitimate laws.

Uranus square Pluto: The Anarchist: this rebel-rouser will stare down the face of authority and has no problem taking tyranny down. He has no attachment to the past, convention, or tradition and is prepared always to make a radical break with past patterns. He is a Dictators worst nightmare. He resists domination, and throws thunderbolts at all the towers of control ivory or otherwise. He demands radical change and makes it happen reconstructing “utopia” from the ground up. Non-violent resistance and flooding into the town square are his tactics, he is so erotic that he causes a sexual revolution everywhere he goes. He can cut through the gridlock of a crisis of action and act powerfully and decisively.

So what does this mean for the probabilistic and uncertain world of events, when all the state vectors collapse from the potential to the actual? In other words what happens when these six personalities come into highly energized interaction with each other? It might shake out like this:

Remember back to Arab Spring? We can predict we will see more of the same and possibly with even more speed than the first one. In this case it will erupt all over the world. The crisis in Ukraine is just the first flicker to this wild-fire. The crisis involving Putin, Russia and the world community could potentially heat up, and it’s no surprise given that there is gridlock among leadership and neo-cons in the U.S. are calling for an escalation to war.

Our continuing environmental issues will accelerate, with many different aspects starting to show the depth of the crisis. Food security, Water Access, Climate Change, Resource Depletion and Energy Issues will all continue to be a big issue for the foreseeable future what this period may reveal is how critical it is that humanity get a collective grip on these issues and begin to make them central to policy decisions on the horizon.

What’s interesting to note is that when these squares occur there is usually some economic trouble on the horizon. I am not one to make predictions as life is way more complicated than any prediction can account for I will say keeping an eye on what is going on in the economy will be instructive.

Expect for sure to see the usual parade of political corruption, religious fanaticism and the scandals of its leadership exposed, economic inequality and the like , as the increasingly flimsy foundation of our institutions will continue to wear thin, but that is the point of this series of events. It is demonstrating the underlying need to completely transform and regenerate every one of our social arrangements, a societal makeover (Pluto-In-Capricorn). The courage to act in innovative and inventive ways that are a radical departure from the past (Uranus-in-Aries); guided by our higher insight into our common humanity, that we are interconnected and that the entire planet is our home (Jupiter-in-Cancer). Finally, to act decisively and thoughtfully to bring fairness to the world and its institutions, and to address imbalances in the distribution of resources, the balance we strike with the biosphere that underpins our global civilization, and the rate at which we use resources that are critical to societal function i.e. energy (social and economic justice all falling under the sway of Mars-in-Libra).
This will show us head-on the resiliency of the human family and the impetus to act to pull us all out of the dark ages of our contemporary alienation. We may begin to see the first flickers of an underlying social structure that will lead to a sustainable and stable civilization that is finally founded in reality. (Again only if we choose to, this is not a spectator sport).

Blackhole Sun: Solar Eclipse: 4/29/02014

We finish an absolutely dizzying month with a solar eclipse, an event where the moon passes in front of the sun and it will be moving through Taurus. Eclipses as mentioned above deal with completion and shifts in perspective. Taurus deals with material resources, desire, and the body. This eclipse will have a distinctly earthy feel to it and as such expect that your perspective surrounding your value on this earth and what your contributions are to it will be on your mind during this transit. We will be concerned with the relationship we have to resources and their fair and sustainable use, which is another word for stable. Taurus is a stabilizing sign being fixed in quality. It will be difficult to be objective during this short period as our self-worth issues will surface in a big way that said stick with it, because it is leading to a point where resolutions to these issues will surface. Collectively we will all be asking the fundamental questions of how we can come into balance with the resources of our planet, and the dynamics of our global culture.

And that’s a wrap! Be sure to listen to this report as well as the other wonderful content on my friend HiC Luttmers radio program airing Sunday April 13th, 2014 at 10:30am. Listen here: